Abstract
Clinical assessment is crucial for it is not only about diagnosis, but also a guide regarding treatment and prognosis. Classification is an important tool for communication between researchers, clinicians, and policy makers to ensure that they are referring to the same features, symptoms, and traits, when making a diagnosis (J Child Psychol Psychiatry 52(6):647–660, 2011a; J Autism Dev Disord 41(4):395–404, 2011b). Planning for the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, Fifth Edition, (DSM-5) began in 2003 and included a series of conferences and work groups with experts from many disciplines and from locations all around the world. In his research review written in 2011, Rutter notes that a better attempt was made to review the science for DSM-5 than for DSM-IV or ICD 10. This review focuses only on one aspect of DSM-5, the diagnosis of ASDs. Rutter cites that subcategories of ASD “manifestly do not work” and argues for their elimination. Much research was reviewed in writing this text citing a substantial body of evidence that Asperger’s and Autism are not qualitatively distinct; rather different quantitative manifestations of the same disorder (J Autism Dev Disord 40(8): 921–929, 2010; J Child Psychol Psychiatry 40(2): 219–226, 1999; J Autism Dev Disord 34(4): 367–378, 2004; J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry 37(3): 271–277, 1998). This chapter examines the new severity classifications for diagnosing ASD which are different from the previous classification of Autism versus Asperger’s Disorder. The new criteria introduced in DSM-5 for identifying Social (Pragmatic) Communication Disorder is included in this chapter as well. Diagnostic criteria for ASD, including severity levels on a continuum of cognitive, language, and other skills, are discussed.
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Kroncke, A.P., Willard, M., Huckabee, H. (2016). Autism in the DSM-5. In: Assessment of Autism Spectrum Disorder. Contemporary Issues in Psychological Assessment. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-25504-0_4
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